Painful Vengence
by smilesilverhope
Summary: Al is gone and Ed is determined to find his killer. Winry tags along due to her worries about him. Cruddy summary. R&R EdWin as friends
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or the characters, no matter how much I want to. Funimation keeps it all to themselves :K

Ed seated himself on the edge of the bed. He grabbed the pillow from behind him and buried his face. "How could I let this happen? We got so far, and now he's gone."

Winry seated herself on a chair in front of him. "Ed don't be so hard on yourself. There's nothing you could have done," Winry consoled.

Ed lifted his head out of the pillow and spoke. "There had to have been. I could have been faster, or bribed that man into taking my life instead. He should still be here, and I shouldn't."

---FLASHBACK---

The blow knocked Ed breathless. He slammed on the ground and clenched his stomach. Al ran from behind and tried to land a punch on attackers face. The man deftly avoided the punch and instead, knocked the head clear off of Al.

"Heh. Another soul transmuted to a suit of armor," the man said with confidence.

Ed's eyes widened. "You've heard of it?"

"I've done it myself." He said. He noticed Al reaching for his head and kicked it across the floor.

"Hey!" Al yelled.

The man knocked Al on the ground and stuck his hand in the suit of armor.

"Isn't this what makes you tick?" The man said, pointing to the seal.

"Leave him alone!" Ed yelled as he got up and ran toward the man, ready to strike.

With a quick swish of the man's thumb, the seal was broken.

"AL!" Ed said, eyes welling.

"Bro--" Al's voice trailed off.

END FLASHBACK

"I'll kill that bastard. I'm going to find him, and I'll kill him." Ed mumbled, his voice being stifled by the pillow.

"Do you even know anything about him?" Winry placed a comforting hand on Ed's shoulder.

"I know what he looks like, and that's all I need. I don't care how long it takes, but I'll find him. Al deserves vengence and he's gonna get it."

Winry smiled despite the fact she was truly worried about him. She removed her hand from his shoulder. "Just don't get hurt. I don't want to lose you too."

Ed picked up the pillow and sunk into it again, but this time tears actually left his eyes. He started sobbing, forgetting the old saying that 'real men don't show their tears'. Winry's eyes became blurred with tears also. Seeing him cry was something really got to her. She pulled the pillow away and Ed covered his face with his hands. Winry just pulled him closer to her and hugged him, the only thing she figured she could do to comfort him. Ed took his hands from his face and wrapped them around her.

"I'm sorry. We both miss him," she sobbed. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or the characters, no matter how much I want to. Funimation keeps it all to themselves :K

Ed awakened and rolled over to look out the window. It was approaching dawn quickly. He rubbed his eyes a bit to get up. His stomach growled, almost ferociously. He grumbled and grabbed a shirt out of the nightstand. He slipped into it and walked to the Rockbell's kitchen. He passed the table where Winry sat, fiddling with her food.

"Pinako has a plate ready in the kitchen..." Winry sighed. She was using her fork to push the food from side to side, attempting to make it seem as though she was eating. Ed kept walking toward the kitchen. Ed didn't want to have to face her after last night. He felt mortified that she saw him like that.

He walked into the kitchen and saw a plate of eggs and bacon waiting for him by the sink. Pinako was no where in sight. He started eating the food right there, still afraid of facing Winry. The door to the kitchen swung open slowly.

"You don't have to ignore me. I don't care," Winry said, slightly depressed. Ed's face scrunched up as he tried to find the right words to say. He wasn't sure exactly why he was so afraid of facing her. He was sure she had seen him cry before, but this time it was different. It hurt him to think about it. This pain was worse than any physical pain you could imagine enduring. It felt to him as though his heart was being torn into shreds. That's it... That's why he is afraid. He didn't want her seeing him go through that. He didn't want her to worry.

Ed picked up his plate and followed Winry to the table. It was deathly quiet between the two of them. Not wanting to disturb the well-kept silence, Ed sat down as gently as possible and set the plate down as softly as he could. Winry continued her fidgiting until she finally broke the silence.

"Ed are you staying here?"

"No. I have to go. You know what I have to do."

"Then I'm going with you."

"You can't. You might get hurt, and I would never let myself live it down if you did."

"What if your automail malfunctions? Ed, I don't care what you say... I'm going."

"Winry..."

"ED!" Winry yelled, as she pounded on the table. As if things weren't tense enough.. The plates and silverware bounced as her fist clobbered the table.

"Fine, but I need you to buy us some train tickets. I need to go to Central to talk to Mustang."

"Why?"

"Nevermind. After breakfast I'm going to pack up," Ed said between chews of bacon.

---

Ed grabbed as many robes, shirts and boxers as he could and shoved them into a case. He gathered his toiletries and threw them in as well. He scratched his head and thought to himself "I know I'm forgetting something.. I just know it... That's it". He grabbed the pocketwatch off of the floor. He opened it and stared at the engraving. After a bit, he closed the watch and put it in his pocket.

The door swung open and Winry appeared in the room. "I've got the tickets and I'm packed."

Ed made a humph noise, assuring his understanding.

"I see you're done packing already."

"Let's head out..." and with that the two teenagers picked up their things and headed out the door on a journey they would never forget. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or the characters, no matter how much I want to. Funimation keeps it all to themselves :K

Ed's eyes darted back and forth as he watched the trees pass by the train. Winry picked up tickets for a private compartment in hopes of getting a chance to talk to Ed. Perhaps maybe she could try to make him feel better. Winry sat across from Ed with her head hung down and her thumbs fiddling as if she was having a one person thumb wrestling match.

A million thoughts ran through her head at every moment. She constantly questioned in her mind if she made the right choice in coming. She wondered if she would get in Ed's way. He has become such an independent person. She still couldn't seem to find a reason for Ed's sudden avoidance towards her. She wanted so many questions to be answered.

After a few minutes of pondering and many minutes of chilling silence, Winry finally spoke up. "Ed?" she questioned softly. Ed made a small, almost inaudible 'hm' noise in return. Again, he refused to speak to her. "Ed, why won't you talk to me. It's as if you're avoiding me! I know you lost your brother but that doesn't mean you should shut the whole world out!" Winry said, in an unusually harsh tone.

Ed turned his head away from the window and looked at Winry. He gave her a look unlike any other she had ever seen. His eyes glazed over with sadness while his face contorted in the most subtle frown, yet he looked more depressed than she had ever seen him. It was a look that was beyond the point of tears.

Winry quickly realized what she said and the how she said it. "Ed... I-I didn't... I'm s--"

"Don't apologize. After the other night I guess I wouldn't let myself confide in you, and I'm sorry for that. I didn't want you to worry about me."

She was shocked that she had gotten an answer so quickly. "You made me worry more by not saying anything, Ed."

"It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Again, I'm sorry," Ed said, looking at his feet.

Winry thought for a second to find the right thing to say. "No, really, it's fine. I have one other question for you though," Ed looked up as she said this, "Did I make the right choice? That is, I mean in coming with you. I'm afraid you think I'll get in your way and mess things up."

Ed's mouth curled up a bit. "I would never think that. We've been friends since before we could walk. It's nice knowing that I still have someone to stick by my side. You could never get in the way or mess things up," Ed said, emphasizing the 'or' slightly.

Winry smiled at him and felt relieved to have that off her chest. 'He's changed so much. After all this, it's like he's another person.' She felt the train slow its speed and listened as the train whistle blew. The train station came into view and the churning of the wheels came to a prolonged stop. Winry and Ed pulled down their suitcases from the compartment above them and descended off the train. Ed began struggling to carry his suitcase to the exit.

"Need some help there, shrimp?" said a man from behind.

Ed dropped his suitcase and whipped around to face the man. He reared up his head into the mans face and began yelling at him. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY BUG THAT ESCAPES THE WRATH OF A SHOE BECAUSE HE'S SO SMALL HE FITS INTO THE GROOVES AND CAN'T GET SQUASHED!" People surrounding him began staring. "Ed stop it. People are staring," Winry muttered.

"Hey kid, I never said that," the man said as Winry held Ed back. 'Maybe he hasn't changed so much...' Winry thought to herself as a pint-sized alchemist tried to wriggle free from her grasp. The man walked away after mumbling a brief curse word towards Ed. Winry released Ed and picked up her suitcase.

"Hey, look. Someone's wanted for burglary. Says here that he's been seen burglarizing the whole city..." Winry said, pointing to an old-fashioned "Wanted" sign.

"Probably just some idi--" Ed turned around to face the sign and his mouth dropped. His eyes opened wide. "T-Thats him. That's the man that did it. That night we were trying to stop him from robbing this marketplace near Central. It doesn't say his name! Damnit!" Ed said, shocked yet extremely frustrated.

"Come on. We're going to Central. First things first," Ed said as he yanked the sign off of the wall and shoved it into his pocket. He grabbed Winry's arm and dragged her behind him.

"Let's go." 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or the characters, no matter how much I want to. Funimation keeps it all to themselves :K

Ed stared at the huge building facing him. 'This is where it all started, and yet, this is where it all ends...' he thought to himself. After the loss of his brother, Ed had given up his ambition of finding the Philosopher's Stone. Even returning his body to the way it was before had lost it's appeal.

"Ed, what are you staring at?" Winry asked.

Ed stepped off of memory lane and snapped back into reality. "Ermph. Nothing.."

Ed walked up the steps, skipping one every once in a while.

"Ed, you never told me why we're here in the first place." Winry asked, while trying to keep up with Ed's quickening pace.

"You'll find out soon enough, Winry."

Ed pushed open the door. He spotted Riza and pulled her to the side. "Where's Mustang?"

"He's a couple offices down the hall but he's busy right now. There's been numerous murders and burglaries going on around Central."

"Thanks, that's all I need."

"Ed, she said he's b--" Winry said, but was quickly cut off by Ed. "I don't care."

He grabbed Winry by the arm and dragged her outside the door of Roy's office. He looked in to see him hovered over papers. He pushed open the door and Winry obeyingly followed.

"Ed, whatever it may be, I'm sure it can wait," Mustang said, in his usual calm, collective voice.

Ed completely ignored Roy's previous statement and proceeded on with his 'mission'. "What do you know about these burglaries and murders?" he questioned, very sternly.

Roy breathed a sigh and realized there was no way of getting around answering Ed's questions, considering how persistent Ed was. He pushed back his chair and began.

"From the research we've done on files and evidence, we believe it to have been done by a man by the name of Alexander Enderson. The murders are always linked with a burglary as people are always found dead either inside a robbed store or right outside of it. We think that the people were trying to stop him. One witness captured a picture of him, though it was hard to distinguish so we asked her to describe him and had one of the officials draw a sketch of him," Roy said, in an unusually relaxed way for the situation.

Ed pulled the poster from the train station out of his pocket. "This wouldn't happen to be him, would it?"

"Yes, in fact it is. That would be the same drawing our official did."

"Why didn't you put the name on the posters and why did it only say that he is wanted for burglary?" Ed asked.

"At the time, we did not know his name and we did not realize that the murders were linked. Why all these questions, and where's Al?" Roy asked.

"Nevermind that," Ed muttered.

Winry leaned in to whisper in Ed's ear. "Ed, this can't be the real reason you stopped in here. You didn't know about the burglaries until after we arrived at the train station."

Winry's statement pushed him to get to the real point of his arrival at Central. Ed sighed and pulled the pocketwatch out of his pocket. He thought about the engraving and set it on Mustang's desk. "I'm not going to be a dog of the military anymore."

Roy merely chuckled. "Very well. I won't bother questioning your intentions."

"Ed, you worked so hard for this! Why are you just giving it up? You can't do this!" Winry yelled.

"I can, and I will..." Ed said, in a mellow, yet harsh tone. 


End file.
